Shubh Saran in a BTS phot from his music video for “To Be.” Photo: Devin Barnes
At New York-based guitarist-composer Shubh Saran’s set at Echoes of Earth festival in Bengaluru last week, he was arguably the heaviest act, but it was also in tune with the eco-conscious gathering’s groovy, dancey curation of acts across genres.
Performing songs off his new EP Being Anybody Else – which came out in September 2024 – Saran and his band could please fans of tech/prog bands like Animals As Leaders as well as jazz fans. The stop at Echoes of Earth was part of his larger India tour, which kicked off on Dec. 6, 2024 at Magnetic Fields Festival in Rajasthan and went on to Echoes of Earth in Bengaluru, with club gigs in Chennai (Dec. 11) and Mumbai (Dec. 12) wrapped up. Now, the tour heads on to its final stop in Pune on Dec. 13.
Saran says over an email interview that “coming back is always such a great feeling.” He adds, “Because it feels so special each time, I force myself to present something new and more exciting than the previous time.” The band arrives in India on the back of a U.S. tour in September and October. He says about what change he’s noticed in the touring ecosystem in India, “We’ve come a long way from our first tour in 2018 where so much of the booking was so DIY, with me messaging venues on Facebook for gigs. For this tour, we’re working with Karan Mehta and Blue Tree and they have been great. They’ve taken care of all the booking and logistics, and have helped me reach venues and festivals I wouldn’t have otherwise.”
In addition to the heavy Being Anybody Else, Saran – joined by saxophonist Brian Plautz, bassist Julia Adamy and drummer Angelo Spampinato – has also been throwing in material from his previous albums Inglish and Hmayra but in a “little grittier” way. He adds, “The whole set is louder, heavier and more groovy – something you can dance to while simultaneously head banging.” Although it was a shorter set at Echoes of Earth in Bengaluru, the club gigs have been averaging at 75 minutes, with Saran even calling on fellow artists like flautist Rasika Shekar on stage in Mumbai.
The newer sheen to the sound is credited to the new EP, which Saran says he made to showcase the band as a unit, relying less on post-production and more on the live instrumentation you may hear at their gigs. Being Anyone Else is also clearly inspired by metal and prog rock. “So it’s no surprise that this music is more aggressive than anything I’ve released in the past. That anger in the sound allowed me to be much more vulnerable and direct with the subject matter. With a title like Being Anybody Else and songs like I Am Nothing, I wanted to be straightforward about self-loathing and the feeling of not being enough. Themes that are so universal yet so personal,” Saran says.
That intensity is matched in the music videos as well, with “To Be” (directed by filmmaker Frankie Turiano) portraying something straight out of a dystopian sci-fi movie. Saran calls it “the first video I’ve made that feels like a real music video with acting, extras and unique filming locations.” Then came the video for “I Am Nothing,” also directed by Turiano that takes things up a notch with the weirdness quotient. “We’re not trying to sell you on anything with these videos, they’re just beautifully made pieces of work,” Saran adds about not falling into the trap of using the videos as a vehicle for social media virality.
With the India tour now wrapping up, Saran and the band head out to perform with friends in Sungazer in New York City in February. “Then I plan to go back into writing mode for a full album. We’d love to do some more support shows and tours trying to reach new listeners, but in between that I’ll be chained to my studio setup trying to craft album number 3,” he adds.
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